It's all a bit of a mystery as to what works and what doesn't ... there are all the colour options, the lengths and the sizes ... I certainly haven't go a fool proof system and almost everything I know I have been shown or have stolen with my eyes.

Fortunately there are a few guy's out there who are willing to help and thank goodness they do or I would have packed it all in long ago.

Snoek Trace: I have tried many different ways of making a snoek trace but the latest way is certainly the most productive.... Snoek are a strange fish and somedays you can catch them on almost anything and then the next they'll take nothing. What I'm doing at the moment is using a small #6 swivel with about 30cm of 9kg Florocarbon tied to a #4 Trace wire using an 'Albright knot' (you can find a picture of this knot on almost all trace wire packaging) I then have a duster with several luminous beads, they are more for spacing than anything else, and then another #6 swivel. The last piece I use a #6 trace wire onto a 6/0 circle hook and it is probably 5cm long at the most. I have had such a good hook up rate with the circle hooks that I'm keeping them until I find a better way. The strip bait is tied to the bottom of the last swivel with a bit of Lycra Cotton from GHOST COCOON... it really works and is easy to get off when you want to put on a new strip bait.

 Speed when trawling is important and don't be fooled catching Snoek on a strip bait is hard work... I like to look for rips and keep as close to the backline as possible... note to angler keep your eyes on the waves many a ski has been caught by a set wave while fishing for snoek.

Couta Trace: I'm very fond of using a bait swimmer when fishing for Couta, it keeps the bait from spinning and I've caught as many Dorado on the same trace as Couta. The extra weight means the slower you go the deeper your bait swims so you are able to vary your depth without to much effort.

For my Couta traces I use a #4 wire of 40cm with a small #6 swivel at the top, as with the Snoek trace I put several luminous beads below my duster, as spacers and to keep the duster from the trace knot on the bait swimmer. I often use a duster and a skirt but it all depends on how I feel at the time. There are so many different types of bait swimmers, I have no real favourites as long as the bait looks good in the water and doesn't spin. I then use #6 Trace wire of about 10cm from my bait swimmer to my first treble hook, I use size4x4 trebles.. for the second treble I tie the trace wire +/- 10cm onto the first trace wire, this allows me to slide the second treble up and down so that I can adjust the size of the trace to the size of the bait.  There are many who feel that this is a weak connection but to date I haven't lost a fish or had a break on the second treble... it's just so much easier when fishing with different size baits. I know several guy's who fish 3 terbles on their Couta traces....

You must remember that no one really knows all the answers, I feel that the above traces work for me and I feel confident in my presentation which makes me feel like I've always got a chance when fishing.

As for colours a hard and fast rule is that dark days, dark colours and visa versa....I'm a big fan of green and blue which seems to be a South Coast thing while pink is more of a North Coast thing....

Anyway I hope the above helps you in some small way.....

Tight lines

Anton